Business Development Specialist II

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Catholic Relief Services, Burkina Faso Country Program (CRS), is seeking to hire a Business Development Specialist II.

Job Summary

As Business Development (BD) Specialist you will lead the production of high-quality applications for funding in support of CRS’ engagement with institutional donors and initiatives involved in international development to serve the poor and vulnerable. Your knowledge and skills will allow you to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions of the BD cycle to cross-disciplines and cross-functional teams.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

· Provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning and proposal preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors (government and inter-governmental award issuing organizations, as well as foundations, corporations and other awarding non-governmental organizations).

· Coordinate proposal development processes to ensure timely submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost standards. Lead and support proposal budget processes and propose recommendations to develop a competitive proposal.

· As appropriate, serve as proposal coordinator or other lead role in proposal team, and participate in bid analysis and proposal review panels. Serve as a lead or support writer on proposals, contributing both technical and non-technical content and integrating inputs from staff and partners into a responsive, coherent proposal with a compelling vision and clear win themes.

· Train and mentor staff, as needed, to improve their skills in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, intelligence-gathering, and marketing within their country program or portfolio.

· Support and guide identification of partners and negotiation of CRS’ role on proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for CRS that adheres to the agency’s partnership principles and strategic directions. Research, track and analyze new opportunities and CRS’ competitive position within the marketplace.

· Support senior management to cultivate and strengthen institutional relationships with institutional donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders.

· Work with appropriate staff to maintain data on past performance and corporate capacity, in order to provide timely information for proposal submissions.

Basic Qualifications

· Bachelor’s degree in international development, international relations, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

· Minimum five years of international development and/or humanitarian experience, with at least three years’ experience in Burkina Faso.
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Required Languages: Strong English and French language skills are required.
Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 10-20% of time.**

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

· Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture.

· Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship, with strong networking skills.

· Excellent negotiation skills.

· Strong communications and presentation skills.

· Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented, and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

· Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.

· Demonstrated experience utilizing diverse, proactive strategies to competitively position organization for new funding and productive institutional relationships.

· Exceptional writer with expert command of English.

· Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements.

· Experience with both USAID RFP and RFA funding mechanisms, as well as with non-USG donors, highly desirable.

· Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures, and priorities.

· Demonstrated experience coordinating teams and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality.

· Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus.

· Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Application: Qualified candidates should send electronic version of their application along their CV with 3 professional references by Monday May 9^th, 2022, to the following to the following mail address: [email protected].**

What we offer

CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and the opportunity to work in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that is committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.

Candidate’s commitment to CRS Safeguarding Policy

By applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I understand that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and my personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.

Women are encouraged to apply

Our strong preference is to recruit a national of Burkina Faso for this position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.